


Combat Dance

by Shatterpath



Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Banter, Capoeira, Combat Dance, F/F, Gen, Gymnastics, I'm in love with the kitty buttwiggle, Kim is catching up, Kim is whipped, Sassy Trini, Slow Burn, So Much Subtext, Subtext, Weapons, battle flirting, my Sassy Yellow
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-17
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-11-01 09:42:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10919247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shatterpath/pseuds/Shatterpath
Summary: The fine line between dance and combat calls up all sorts of subtext.





	1. Combat Dance

**Author's Note:**

> Over the course of two movies and some conversation, I spat this thing out. O.o Sometimes, it just happens that way.
> 
> My apologies for the sorta cliffhanger ending, it just felt oddly complete at that point. If we're all lucky, this won't be the end of the this. In the meantime, I have an epic that needs my brain back!
> 
> Inspired by the Tumblr post: http://toodrunktofindaurl.tumblr.com/post/160708365506/to-continue-the-hip-hopbreakdancing-trini-she where the lovely Marynee wrote: You know what? I love this. There is a lot of headcanons about Trini being (rightfully) flustered and rendered useless around Kim but I’m LIVING for the opposite. Yes to Trini blackwidow-ing the sHIT out of Kimberly and Kim being absolutely STUNNED (and turned-on because what’s even the point otherwise)
> 
> And maaaaybe a little bit of: http://toodrunktofindaurl.tumblr.com/post/160703504351/unbeknownst-to-the-rangers-crew-trini-has-been  
> No, not breakdancing, but does combat-dancing count?  
> Yes, Marynee, you beautiful, talented being, this is all your fault. Bless you.

Oh sure, Trini started out quiet and surly, a shining star in the sarcasm firmament, but with her easing into really caring about her ragtag group of friends... comes the Fun Trini. Zack’s with the program right from the start, the two of them a firestorm of sass and elaborate hand slaps. Billy finds the latter intriguing and Trini spends days perfecting an elaborate routine with him that makes both beam and hug when they perform for the others. She leaves the former popular kids alone until Alpha and Zordon set up a Zord simulator. It's better than any videogame, with 360 views from the mock cockpits and near-perfect duplication of the sensation of piloting the amazing machines, the shock of impact, the rattle of weaponry through their great frames.

Understandably, they don't get any other training done for more than a week.

Jason and Trini randomly face off and, honestly, he should have seen it coming, yet the red t-rex's mouth actually falls open when the big yellow cat crouches _and wiggles its butt playfully_. The classic catlike maneuver earns her a free attack that bowls over rex and sets the audience to screaming like it's Superbowl. 

Saber preens in the monitors before the simulator pods hiss open and Jason gives the grinning Trini a wry look before cracking up.

But Kim? 

Kim she doesn't play with.

Or so it seems.

At first, Kim doesn't mind. Trini treats her like the others, tosses out zingers of sass grenades with ease, steals bites of Kim's snacks, bitches about small town blues and endless homework they still have to somehow keep up with.

It takes _weeks_ to realize that Trini doesn't produce any grand welcoming gestures for Kim, _because they've been flirting from the start_. It's a constant barrage of little things, of touches and smiles and little nibblets of sharing. All of that and a playful revenge tackle into the gorge that Kim accepts with resignation, closing her eyes before the falling hug becomes a very soggy one. That's the catalyst for the taller girl, the feel of the wiry little cat wrapped around her as air and then water rushes around them.

Kim wants to feel that again.

She longs for it.

But like the prehistoric cat she pilots, Trini is a _tease_ , an endlessly frustrating, fascinating tease. 

They're all adept at combat, no matter if they were athletic or not before the coins chose them. It comes to them as easily as a deep breath now, the ease of physical violence to their enhanced bodies.

Trini takes it to a whole new level, honing the skills that came with the superhuman strength and endurance and colorful, badass armor.

The rest are just too excitable, content with letting Alpha prod them in the direction the two ancients want them to go. Trini is content with _nothing_ and her fast, wiry moves start to take on a deadly dancelike quality that is mesmerizing.

She jokes that she started watching _Capoeira_ videos because she's the only one who can pronounce it right. And the lyrical names of the maneuvers roll off her lips like music. There are long, low, swooping movements, feet apart and arms held like a bird of prey's backswept wings as it dove for the kill called _Ginga_. There was a duck and weave, the _Balança_ , that the guys fell for every time, pulling her head down so that they swung too high. Kim nearly lost her head when a power cartwheel became a kick-grab maneuver with Trini's damn _feet_ that took her utterly off guard. She managed to avoid that one, feeling the wind of those flying feet rush up her nose, but the handstand, feet tucked up like an upside-down crouch, left Kim so flustered that, if this were an anime, she'd have a nosebleed. Grinning like the feline that chose her, Trini rolled to the side, leapt in close enough to set off Kim's warrior instincts, but it did no good, as their tiny terror pulled yet another surprise.

Instead of standing and using her hands like a proper primate, Trini crouched and unwound into a backward leap that slammed both feet into Kim's solar plexus with enough force to send her careening violently into the wall. Pebbles rained down and the boys gawked like landed fish.

Dazed, Kim imagined there was some graceful recovery tuck and roll that enabled Trini to plant herself triumphantly atop her vanquished foe before the body had settled to the ground.

"Say _tio_ ," Trini sassed sweetly and Kim could only wheeze. 

" _Aú_ ," Kim coughed weakly, naming the move that had felled her like a tree, and Trini grinned widely.

"Close, Princess, but no pterodactyl."

That much smugness should not be as adorable as it was. Leaning forward onto her hands, Trini grinned down into Kim's face.

"The move that defeated you, my former cheerleader, is called _Macaco_."

" _Macaco_ ," Kim parroted back obediently and was relieved to feel breath returning to her lungs. "And as a former cheerleader, I am totally impressed that you took me down with a cartwheel and a _backflip_. I mean, seriously, you just Black Widowed my ass."

It happened seemingly by accident, Trini sitting back on her heels, grinding down her weight atop Kim even she shifted her hips to be slightly less uncomfortable in her undignified sprawl.

The pose was really intimate.

Suggestive even.

Eyes wide, the teens finally took a good look at one another, feeling the zing between them, the abrupt tsunami of lust and terror that left them paralyzed. 

Things got weird after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first vid I looked at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNMG27bl4kc  
> Terminology from: http://www.capoeira-world.com/capoeira-moves/main-capoeira-moves/  
> Macaco: In translation, Macaco means a monkey. This movement has been called like that as it is more like a monkey move than anything else. In short, it is a back flip performed low to the ground. It requires strength and flexibility but also a very good technique. It might be dangerous and for this a newbie may start practicing it with the assistance of other capoeiristas.  
> To start the Macaco, place your body into a crouch position with one hand located on the floor right behind you. The other hand should be free to move up and down, as it will give your body speed and direction for the jump. Located in that position try stretch your body holding your hips up and try to reach the floor with your free hand moving it over the head. Try to do that several times and when you are ready try to lift your legs over the head as well and transfer them to the other side of the body. If you need, you may help with your free hand by placing it to the floor right after the legs come off the ground. Check out the video to see how to do the Macaco move in details.  
> Balança: This is a combination of feint moves performed side to side (from one leg to the other) in order to deceive the opponent and make it hard for him to track the player’s next move. In Balanca, the arms of the capoeirista are moving from side to side as done in Ginga while protecting the face. This move is often the leading move of many quick kicks, headbutts and hand-strikes.  
> Bananeira: Simply, it is a handstand position in which the hands of the capoeirista are placed in shoulder-width and the legs above his head. Like in Au, the head of the player is located between his hands looking toward the other player. This capoeira move is often used when a capoeirista needs a quick break and wants to see the opponent’s next move. It is believed that the name of bananeira comes from the banana trees in Brazil.  
> Aú; The Capoeira Au is known as cartwheel in gymnastics and other martial arts. However, in Capoeira the Aú is performed slowly and in most cases with arms and legs bent forward to protect the player from incoming kicks and attacks. From Au, the player can also easily kick the opponent. When performing Au, it is very important for the player fighter to look at the opponent in other to be informed for any incoming attacks. To do this the player has to place his head between his hands looking straight instead of looking at the ground.  
> Ginga: Pronounced jinga, it is the most basic movement in Capoeira. It is done by moving back and forth alternating both legs in shoulder-width describing a triangular form. The hands are moving with the body aiming to protect those parts that are opened and easy to be attacked.  
> In Capoeira Angola, the Ginga is more individualistic. In Capoeira Regional, the Ginga is more defined and structured. Still, the player can add his own style to it. In both Capoeira styles, the Ginga is performed to transfer the body to another move – offensive or defensive.


	2. Dance Lessons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> None of the others can match Trinin's combat dance, but Kim discovers she has unique skills of her own.
> 
> And the slow-burn goes on...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this piece became more of a character exploration than anything, but I figure it still works for a slow-burn! There's enough subtext here to hopefully carry through for more and greater for our fun ladies!

Kim couldn't stand it.

She really couldn't.

Out of a sense of desperation, YouTube became her new hunting ground, a cluttered terrain to fly over and search for prey. 

Sometimes, the analogies to the Zords were a little too easy…

The videos were easy enough to find and she watched them hungrily, trying to let them sink into this tougher, faster, stronger her. But the dancelike movements wouldn't come to her. Years of soccer and cheerleading had trained Kim's muscles and nerves to react with a precision that Trini's beautiful combat dance fight against. Hers was not the fluidity of one maneuver flowing into the next like water over stones, but a precise waltz, counted off in her head; one, two, three, four, step, two, three, four…

Zordon approved of the ingrained obedience in Kim's reflexes, echoed in Jason and his crumbled dreams in a different group sport. Billy fell in line, a beautiful echo of the lessons, and Zach waffled around until pain got it through his head that maybe, yeah, he really should knuckle down and learn this shit.

Trini remained the outlier, the wild card, the hot spark of their five colorful energies. Like a thumb that moved independent and yet interdependent on the fingers to make a hand. She learned the moves, but they were never enough, and she turned them, twisted them into something more suited to her small, strong frame, her graceful and deadly dance. 

Because not only was Trini fast, but she was smart. As well as calculating and even a little ruthless. Maybe is really was a short thing. After all, she herself smiled sweetly at Zack when he tormented her one too many times about her stature, saying, "short people are evil because we're closer to hell." After that, she beat him until he couldn't pick himself up for a good, long while.

She used the boy's larger size against them with an effortlessness that they could never quite catch up on, learned every move Kim had, chopped off Putties at the ankles and elbows with ease, used all her larger opponents and allies as springboards to make herself all the more effective.

And that was just in the Pit.

The Zord simulators were a whole different torment. 

Somehow no one was surprised that Trini pushed and pushed and pushed until even crazy sophisticated fuck-knew-how-old technology whined for mercy. But she found out what the limits were on her great cat, at least so far as the simulator could keep up with her, and growled that it wasn't real enough.

The lumbering shapes of mastodon and triceratops stood little chance if she got to bouncing around too much, though the two jocks and their dinos could give her a good fight. Sometimes…

It would have been irritatingly frustrating if the rest of them hadn't brought up their game to match their hot little spark. It would have set Jason into wanting to tear out his hair in frustration if Trini didn't listen, even if it took some time to realize that she never missed a word any of them spoke, never missed a chance to push all of them in her own weird, quiet way.

And quiet she remained. For all Trini became the strong bones of how they fought, they really didn't know her at all. She became the underlying bone, just as Jason was the stoic heart and mind that pointed them where they had to go. Billy's loyalty held them together, Zack's wild energy remained their endless fire and Kim kept their spirits up, called them home when rage and despair threatened to pull them down. They grew closer with time and experience, readying themselves for the next threat that would inevitably come their way.

"You're still telegraphing, Princess," Trini taunted. "Now, come on! I've seen how you fly, swoops and fast strikes and long strafing runs. Can't you at least try to translate that into your lanky monkey frame?"

Growling in annoyance aimed more at herself than Trini, Kim twisted and rolled to her feet, shaking herself out. "I swear, the first one of you that makes a flying monkey joke, I'll see you on the sand for an ass-whupping."

Zack warbled the Wicked Witch's theme music, but Kim decided to ignore him. Trying to repress Zack was like herding cats.

Flight. It was a parallel that had never occurred to Kim before. How would a large bird avoid a hungry cat? How could she use the heady feeling of piloting her pterodactyl Zord? Even having only done it once in that violent battle they all thought would kill them, she had that sensation in her bones. 

Birds were descended from the mighty dinosaurs, those that flew and those that remained tethered to the earth. The other four Rangers were earthbound, but Kim? She could fly. 

When Trini lunged, something changed. Something fundamental. Like a flying dinosaur, both hunter and prey, Kim saw the translation of movement that started in hip and sternum, radiating outward, and she was in instant motion. Twisting, leaping, almost taking flight, she coiled her body in a arching dive, kicking with all her strength even as Trini tried to twist into the maneuver.

With a thud and scrape of sand and stone, the Yellow Ranger went skittering into the wall with considerable force and Kim corrected from her kick and landed, fists up defensively. Even Zack was stunned silent for a long moment before he burst into an ecstatic leap, punching the air. "Yes! That was awesome, Pink!"

Groaning, Trini rolled onto her back, limbs falling loosely, one knee against the wall and a hand on her belly. Worried suddenly, Kim rushed over, skidding to a halt on her knees, her facemask dissolving away. "Trini! Oh my god, are you okay?" Tapping at the yellow and black faceplate, she ordered, "open up, you."

For a moment, Trini seemed to ignore her, though her head did shift. The boys gathered around in various stages of concern, hovering over their smaller teammates. Finally, the yellow faceplate faded away to reveal Trini's expression caught between pain and hilarity. She was breathing fast and too shallowly, clearly trying to get her wind back, gripping down hard on Kim's hand when it curled into hers. Finally, the panting became broken laughter, then flat-out mirth. Their too-serious outcast rarely let her emotions show so openly and the other four soaked up her unfettered joy.

"That…" Trini finally gasped, tears wetting her eyelashes. "Zack is right, that was awesome! What a leap! You really flew there, Kim."

Suffused with affection for this wild spark, Kim shifted to lever Trini's smaller weight up, Billy scrambling to grab her other hand. Once on her feet, Trini swayed drunkenly and kept her grip on Kim's arms.

"Yeah, I really flew," Kim said affectionately and didn't resist the urge to pull Trini into a loose hug. It was weird with the plates and scaly skin of the armor, but it still felt good. "You were right. I've been fighting too hard to be what I've always been, not what I could be."

And it suddenly felt like she wasn't just talking about battle any longer.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My fill for day 5 of my September prompts: Gymnastics. 
> 
> UGH, the TEENAGE ANGST AND DRAMA. The drawn out teasing continues after a 3 month dry spell! I feel like I'm still getting to know these girls as characters and that's why this is such a long process, but they made some progress at least? I'm hoping for at least one more part so that these two at least get to the kissing. They've earned that.
> 
> And, seriously, I had NO IDEA the Power Rangers franchise was SO extensive. Holy crap! I was just looking for their weapons and boy did I get an education.
> 
> http://shatterpath.tumblr.com/post/161725200778/sallgud-jamaicanamazon  
> Here's a video that I stumbled over when looking up the earlier research into Capoeira. This warrior is HYPNOTIC.

Like a lot of little girls who were athletic but trying to fit in, Kim started out in gymnastics. She loved the floor exercise, the tumbling and balance exercises, the rush of blood to her head as she stood on her hands.

She loved the cartwheels and rolls and kickovers, feeling the strength and elasticity of her young body… but she let fear hold her back from the flips and the tall balance beam and the uneven bars high above her head. She let the disappointment of her parents and her much older sisters turn her fear into anger and found soccer to let those aggressions have an outlet that didn't label her as crazy.

Then came an awareness of her peers, of how she, the unexpected child late in her parent's life, was not fitting in to expectations.

So she knuckled down on academics and found that socially acceptable cheerleading gave her a new outlet and a set of popular friends that had carried her through to her ugly fall from grace.

But never once had she danced.

Until Trini.

The dance between them became an elaborate skirmish of Merengue, a duel of a Waltz, an aggressive Foxtrot, a Cha Cha of blows traded back and forth, a Bolero of taunts and quicksteps.

And it kept building. 

Their dance became a blurring duel of a Tango, a violent Samba no normal dancer could have equaled, no matter how hot-blooded.

The boys started avoiding them, unable to equal their speed or ferocity. Much of the time, they just watched in something like awe.

Kim was just a hair faster, hit just the smallest bit harder, but no matter how she tried to forget gymnastics, soccer, cheer, there was no getting away from it. Trini was small and unpredictable and the most naturally limber of all of them, bouncing around like a hyperactive kitten.

She was speed and instinct, but smart instinct, a rapid calculation of trajectory and angle and likeliness of success. Not the sort of impulsive idiocy that has a 'best friend' sending incriminating photos to a third party or chopping years worth of hair off in a dramatic huff.

But when Kim does let go all that muscle memory, all the drone of negativity in her head, the playing field started to level out, encouraging her, pushing back against Trini's natural skills.

And so they reached another plateau. 

Frustrated and battered, Trini rolled to her feet into a defensive stance, snapping her elbows into position so that her angry fists were ready for action. Angry fists that suddenly glowed yellow and with a flash of light, she was suddenly holding a pair of daggers.

Conditioned to take advantage of an opening, Kim was already in motion even as Trini startled enough that she dropped the daggers and her guard, completely defenseless to being swatted across the Pit by Kim. 

"Hey, cool, Crazy Girl!" Zack yelled and scrambled over to grab one of the yellow silver daggers. Interestingly, just as had happened the first time Billy had morphed, his touch made the weapons fade away like frozen carbon dioxide turned back to gas. "Awww! Not cool."

"They're not yours, obviously," Kim sassed as her faceplate de-rezzed and she looked curiously at the second weapon where it lay in the dirt. "It's got extra teeth, like your Zord. Sweet."

Groaning, Trini rolled over and accepted a helping hand from Billy to get back to her feet.

"Well, the color theme holds true," Trini snarked as she crouched to pick the second dagger up to examine it. The central blade was flanked by two smaller blades, slightly curled inward like fangs, the thickest part of the blade jagged like teeth. It was good sized for a dagger, as long as Trini's forearm and fist, the hilt protruding from her grip to add a blunt-force hit.

Jason and Billy joined them as Trini's faceplate vanished and she stared hard at her hands, one full and one empty. The others yelled in excitement as one again there was a flash of light and the second dagger reappeared.

"How did you…? I thought I was the only one who had one! Awesome!"

Jason said it for the others, all them excited and in awe. Trini's grin was slow and pleased as she looked at her new toys and when she raised her eyes to look at each of her teammates.

"I just feel like I was ready for something new. A new step up, y'know?"

Shouldering an overeager Zack aside, she got in Kim's dance space. There was something in her expression, almost a need, that sucked Kim in.

"Put your hands up. No, palms up, like you're holding a tray." When Kim dawdled, confused and feeling a little silly, Trini gave her a sarcastic look, but her eyes were soft and pleading. "Come on, partner. Think about how empty your hands are, like there should be something there. It's inside you, just like the armor, and talking to your Zord."

"You're a hell of a motivator, you know that, right?" Kim couldn't stop herself from saying fondly and some new thing passed between them. Ducking her eyes away, Trini nudged her own clenched fists up under Kim's hands and the taller girl really looked at the scale-like pattern that clung to her like spandex.

"Stop trying so hard, jeez Kim," Trini sassed her and bonked her fists upward, armor and daggers clacking. In the rush of affection and team spirit, Kim felt something… unlock and she relished the flash of light that dazzled her eyes for a moment.

"A freakin' bow, are you kidding me?"

Unsurprisingly, Zack started laughing and Kim's eyes narrowed.

"Heads up, Black!"

He barely started to react before Kim had whipped around in a full circle and smacked him in the side of the head hard enough to spin him around and into the dust. Straightening from her defensive crouch, Kim examined the unharmed bow and shrugged.

"It'll have to do. Seriously, though, did the first Pink not like close combat or something? I'm sick of being the distance fighter. Screw that."

After grumbling and sulking for a bit over her awkward new toy, Trini's nagging and teasing finally calmed her down enough to call up a fancy quiver full of what seemed like ordinary-looking arrows. 

"I bet there more to this than just daggers and a bow. This… stuff we keep getting is way more extra than this. Still, these are pretty badass."

Again, Trini tapped her blades against pink armor and Kim was overcome with all the mixed feelings caught up in this girl. With the boys laughing and bickering over trying to master the trick themselves, none of them gave a damn about their companions in that moment.

And that long moment of intimacy lent a courage to the confused jumble of feelings that had been growing stronger and stronger in Kim. She had been afraid of flying too high before these people, before this wild yellow spark. She had shied away from gymnastics when it meant leaping too far, she stuck to soccer to keep her feet on the ground, she had never been the apex on any cheerleading pyramid, perfectly content to be an anchor for the others.

Until she learned how to fly.

Some part of Kim's mind felt the touch of the pterodactyl nearby, like a distant screech. She half expected the damn thing to peer around the stones, possibly snuggled up with the sabertooth cat.

Abruptly, she was hit and falling to the dirt, no defense at all given to the shove.

"Don't do that," Trini growled irritably, but Kim had seen what she hoped and feared to see when she had been staring so longingly into those pretty, dark eyes.

Trini was scared and longing too.

Part of Kim wanted to deflect, to snarl or play dumb. But that had laid her low before, left her friendless and hurting until she held that pink coin in her hand and found herself bound to the strangers who had become extensions of her very soul. 

Like parts of her melting away, the bow and arrows and armor vanished, leaving her just a confused teen staring up at the cavern ceiling, far away. Then she quickly twisted to her feet, grabbed her bag and damn near bolted for the watery door to their haven.

But she paused because she couldn't run away from them, all four of her fellow Power Rangers staring at her with questions on their faces.

"I'll try," grated up thick and hoarse from Kim's chest before she retreated so that she didn't do something stupid like try and kiss Trini.

But somehow, she knew it was a promise she wasn't going to be able to keep.


End file.
